Opinion: Community Support For Original “Cubby” Shows Passion For MCS SCHOOLS

Elizabeth Anderson

Instagram picture in support of "Cubby"
Instagram picture in support of “Cubby”

The recent uprising over the possible changes in the Madison School system’s logo has certainly created a talking point in the High School and community. Some of the talk was positive, but an overwhelming percentage was extremely negative about removing our old “Cubby.”

MCS Communications Coordinator, Ashley Schutte claimed that part of the reason for possibly making this decision was because the committee felt like the student body and community didn’t have a unified connection to the old Cubby, as many sports and extracurricular programs create their own logo or designs for uniforms or letterheads.

However, this entire event has certainly created a large backing behind the old Cubby. Students have banded together to buy shirts, notebooks, bags, and athletic gear with the loved Cubby on them. In fact, several social media accounts and petitions have even cropped up in support to maintain the old cub. An Instagram photo making its way around the Internet had amassed 271 followers and the online petition maxed out at 730 likes at the time of this writing. Not to mention, the miles of comments and Facebook posts or conversations that have erupted over this debated topic.

The new logo, which was being derided as a fox, tiger, polar bear, honey badger, weasel or donkey, has certainly created heat among the community directed at the school and the administration. The committee claimed to have someone from multiple outreaches in the community, but unfortunately it seems they did not have anyone ask if they should leave the traditional Cubby alone.

The community has completely backed the original Cubby with support and with disdain for the new possible logo. Luckily, the committee and administration have listened to the uprising of complaints and decided to rethink their strategy for rebranding. The original plan was to change to this new logo for Madison Schools and Madison High School, but now those plans have been put on halt, partially due to the community backing of the Cubby. Mrs. Shutte released a community statement earlier this week where she expressed a change in plans for the direction of the logo.

Students at Madison have grown up with the Cubby. They have played sports with it on their jersey, bought shirts in support of their school emblazoned with the Cub, and have won athletic and academic titles under it. The original Cub has come to represent the school spirit and fierceness of Madison students. The original cub logo is a part of Madison history and a symbolic piece of students past and present. The passionate rejection from students and the community was likely due to this reason. Removing the cub was removing a piece of themselves.